Stuart Bingham claims Gibraltar Open glory
Stuart Bingham doubled his title tally for the season by dethroning Ryan Day to claim the Gibraltar Open crown on Sunday.
Bingham, who won the English Open last October, recovered from losing the opening frame of the final to reel off four in a row and clinch the £25,000 title.
The victory marks Bingham’s sixth career ranking title as he continued the superb run of form which led him to last month’s Welsh Open final.
“I’m over the moon,” said Bingham. “I had a chance for a maximum but missed a red to the middle and Ryan made a great dish.
“I thought I was in trouble but luckily for me, my game sort of clicked, I had a nice hundred and that’s more or less what I’ve been playing since Round One.
“I wanted to get it over and done with as quickly as possible.”
Bingham began the day by defeating Norway’s Kurt Maflin 4-2 in the Last 16, before whitewashing emerging star Zhou Yuelong 4-0.
He then repeated the dose on another Chinese youngster – Yuan Sijun – to storm into the final at the Tercentenary Sports Hall.
Day, bidding to successfully retain the title, began the final brightly with an 83 clearance to clinch the opening frame after Bingham had broken down on 48.
However, it would prove one-way traffic from there on in as Bingham swiftly levelled with a break of 100 before adding an 84 to move in front.
The 2015 World Champion then added a clinical break of 103 – his ninth century of the tournament – to extend his lead, before edging over the line in frame five.
Day had earlier recovered from 3-0 down to deny amateur David Grace in the Last 16 before defeating German Masters finalist David Gilbert 4-2 and China’s Lu Ning by the same scoreline.
Gibraltar Open 2019 Results
Sunday March 17
Last 16
Ryan Day 4-3 David Grace
Daniel Wells 3-4 David Gilbert
Tian Pengfei 4-3 Yan Bingtao
Oliver Brown 2-4 Lu Ning
Andrew Higginson 3-4 Zhou Yuelong
Kurt Maflin 2-4 Stuart Bingham
Gary Wilson 2-4 Yuan Sijun
Robert Milkins 4-2 Kyren Wilson
Quarter-Finals
Ryan Day 4-2 David Gilbert
Tian Pengfei 3-4 Lu Ning
Zhou Yuelong 0-4 Stuart Bingham
Yuan Sijun 4-3 Robert Milkins
Semi-Finals
Ryan Day 4-2 Lu Ning
Stuart Bingham 4-0 Yuan Sijun
Final
Stuart Bingham 4-1 Ryan Day